What it Means to Be an Uchiha
by YoungCrow
Summary: AU: When a young couple leave the Leaf for a simple life in the north unknowingly escape a massacre, they become two of the only four remaining Uchiha. When they have a son, it leaves the world with two at the time of their mysterious deaths. Karasu Uchiha, cousin to Sasuke, returns to the leaf at the age of eleven, ready to serve his parents' home alongside his cousin and friends.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, finally decided to expand my fandoms. With this story also comes a name change: YoungCrow. This story will follow the story of Karasu Uchiha. AU, but will follow the main Naruto storyline… for the most part! Please leave a review and enjoy!

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" _Kara, come!" his father commanded. Oh,_ Karasu thought, more than slightly annoyed, _what is it this time? His father stood in the entryway, dripping with sweat. "You're heading back to the Leaf tomorrow. Be ready to leave by morning."_

" _What about you and mother?"_

" _Kara, son, sit please," he motioned to the stool in the main hallway. His father was clearly uncomfortable, and… hurt? He never saw his father look so vulnerable. "Karasu, there are some who would see me dead. They're coming and I want you gone when they get here."_

" _F-Father?"_

" _You're not to come back, understood?" His father had regained is normal serious and demanding tone._

" _B-"_

" _You will do as I say!" His eyes softened slightly. "You've got to go, please son. You're eleven now, and declared a genin by Lord Raikage. Your mother and I… we won't be around anymore, but I know you'll be able to take care of yourself. I've already set up arrangments in the Leaf with their Hokage, he's an old friend of mine. Stay close to Sasuke, trust him and protect him, he's been through a lot and can help you," a tear streamed out his right eye and down his father's normally stoic face. He pulled his son up from the stool and gathered him tightly into a hug, shocking Karasu; his father was never this open with him. "I love you, son, now go pack, I have something for you when you're finished."_

 _When Karasu finished, he went to the living area to find his father standing next to the center table. He gave his son a smile and motioned to the items he had laid out in front of them: a black cloak that had belonged to his father when he was younger, a pair of shinobi's gloves with the Leaf Village insignia, a sheathed Ninjatō with a strange chord wrapped around the handle. The gloves were easily understandable, he would be a Leaf shinobi so, after all. But the ninjatō is what intrigued him. Instead of the normal black chord, it had a red and gold chord wrapped into a groove along the whole handle with a_ _虎_ _(tora) carved into the wood. He drew the sword from its sheath, in awe at the remarkable craftsmanship of it. He found another_ _虎_ _etched beautifully in gold into the blade._

" _Father?"_

" _It was never mine, son, but I know you'll make great use of it. Trust in that blade, and it will reward you," he assured with a smile._

That was a week ago. A week of traveling and near death at times (bandits, Kara found, could be extremely annoyingly persistent), it had been a hard journey to take alone, but Kara hoped it would be his last. Alone, that is. He looked up at the Northern gate of the famous Village Hidden in the Leaves. He hadn't been there before. Having grown up just north of the Hidden Cloud village, a trip to the center of the Land of Fire was a bit too far to take just to see a single family member. That is, until they became his only left.

"Well, time to find my cousin!" _Tiger_! Karasu's body flickered from the space he had previously occupied, almost too quick to notice. Almost.

The movement of body and chakra caught the attention of one former ANBU just outside the clearing in front of the gate. He had returned from a mission just in time to receive his team of genin, the graduation ceremony being the next day. "Never seen him before…" Kakashi pushed is sleeves back off and copied the other ninja's maneuver. _He looks young, yet his ability to use the body-flicker technique is quite impressive, even for the lack of speed,_ Kakashi thought, being much more proficient with the technique allowing him to catch up quickly. Kakashi was about to overtake him when caught off guard by the young ninja turning abruptly and forming quick handsigns.

 _Tiger, Monkey._ "Fire Release: Burning Windmill!" Kara twisting his body in a flaming, spinning kick.

 _Interesting, a fire affinitive,_ Kakashi thought with delight, it had been awhile, after all. He easily blocked the attack, gripping the youth's ankle and throwing him down to the training ground below, only for the youth to recover on his landing with a backflip before continuing his assault.

 _Snake, Monkey, Tiger._ "Fire-Lightning Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

 _Oh, this is something._ Kakashi thought, preparing to counter the interesting technique.

 _Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger._ "Fire-Lightning Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

 _Oh my, looks like I've got no choice,_ Kakashi, pulled down his mask, revealing a blood-red sharingan-eye. He quickly repeated the handsigns the young man had made. "Fire-Wind Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Kakashi's jutsu, having a stronger chakra base and being boosted by its wind component, overtook the fire closing in on him, forcing the youth to dodge the deadly blaze flying for him.

Karasu drew his ninjatō, forming a single hand sign before moving so quickly, Kakashi would've had trouble blocking the attack, had it not been for his sharingan.

Kakashi was glad for the speed and reaction time his gift gave him. He, however great his eyes, did not see what he expected when the boy flickered in front of him. Kakashi saw the same eyes that saved him staring right back at him. _An Uchiha?_ Kakashi's mind's eye backpedaled to his chase. _The symbol on the back of that cloak..._ Kakashi now recognized that as the Uchiha Clan symbol.

Kara's blade now blazed with bright red flames. "Fire Release:"

Kakashi saw no handsigns being formed, only eyes full of passion and determination to win.

Karasu drew back his sword. "Dance of the Golden Ti-"

"ENOUGH!" The voice of the Third Hokage immediately broke their concentration on the battle. Unknown to either of them, Sarutobi had been following the two from the gate and had witnessed the whole fight. "As entertaining as this has been, we have much to discuss, Karasu Uchiha. Come with me."

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Hope you enjoyed, don't forget to leave a review!

-YoungCrow


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2, sorry for the delay! To answer a review left on chapter 1, I haven't decided on a pairing yet, so that's why I haven't tagged one, sorry. I do know that there will be one eventually, however, so stay tuned for that. Enjoy!

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" _Karasu Uchiha, welcome to the Leaf!"_

"Hakage-sama-"

"Please, call me Sarutobi in private. Your father and I were like brothers," the kage turned to the youth and smiled. He had just seen some remarkable combat for a boy so young. "Karasu, I saw that battle… Where did you learn to fight like that?" Sarutobi had never seen a boy so young fight so well, with the exception of Itachi Uchiha.

"Would you mind if I sat down, sir? Fighting like that takes a lot out of me, I can't keep it up for long," the boy, Sarutobi now noticed, looked dead on his feet. He was dripping in sweat and looked to be nursing a headache.

"Yes, of course," he motioned for the wicker chair in front of his desk.

"I trained in the Hidden Cloud under the Raikage. He trained me as a favor for my father. I your started when I was six and was awarded genin-status by him in secret just recently," he wiped the sweat from his brow quickly. "My father… He sent me here a week ago… He said some men were looking to kill him and my mother…"

"He told me in our letters," the kage sighed, grief clearly on his face. "The men who killed your father… They are very dangerous shinobi, men who, individually, would be difficult to take down with a whole ANBU squad. Working together, they are a terrible force, one we hope to never fight," the Hokage let that sink in. "On another note, welcome to the Leaf! Graduation at the academy is tomorrow, so I'll let you be off. Be there at 10:00 am, sharp. You'll be assigned your team then."

"Thank you, Sarutobi-sama," Kara said with a bow.

"Come see me tomorrow, when you can."

* * *

Kara answered with a nod and left, hoping to find the training ground where he had fought Kakashi.

"First up is group eight: Hinata Hyuuga! Kiba Inuzuka! Shiba Aburame!"

Kiba, happy he wasn't paired with Sasuke or Naruto, jumped onto his deck and howled in victory.

"Quiet down Kiba!"

"Yeah, you're almost as bad as Naruto!"

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Up next: Group nine! Sakura Haruno! Miku Asaki! Susano Asaki!"

Sakura glanced over in disdain at the twins. _Why couldn't it have been Sasuke?_

"Up next, group ten!" Iruka loved doing this, the look on these children's faces when they didn't get paired with who they wanted was priceless. "Ino Yamanaka! Shikamaru Nara! Choji Akimichi!"

"Ugh, what a drag…"

"You know, I don't care too for being put with you ei-"

"And finally, group 7; I've saved you guys for last!" He took one last look at the semi-controlled environment. "Naruto Uzumaki!" A grin broke out on the ninja's face. "Sasuke Uchiha!"

"Ugh, I'm with Sas-"

"And Karasu Uchiha!"

Silence.

"Hello, cousin," Kara's body flickered next to Sasuke, almost causing him to fall out of his seat. "I'm Kara," He finished with a smile.

"Y-You're… cousin?" Sasuke didn't quite know how to respond to this. His family was dead, wiped off the face of the world, wasn't it? It was only supposed to him and Itachi!

"Yes!" Kara turned to the orange-clad boy two seats over. "And I assume you're Naruto, yes?" He asked with a grin, the boy clearly unsure of how to react.

 _I thought all the Uchihas were dead!_ "Uhhhhhh," Naruto was at a loss for words. "I'm Naruto!"

"Nice to meet you both, I'm sure we'll make a great team," Kara assured with a smile before turning his attention back to the Chunin in charge of the class. The teacher hadn't continued though; they were all staring at him. _Oh lord, so what if I'm one of the few remaining of an all but extinct clan?_

Sasuke was "staring" as well, but for a completely different reason: he was sizing him up. The speed with which he appeared next to him was inhuman, especially for a Genin.

"Well, I've got to get going, I'll meet you guys on the training ground when we meet tomorrow!"

* * *

"Sarutobi-san, you assigned me to the same squad as the nine-tails?" Karasu stated more than asked, a smile on his face.

"Is that a problem? You must know a ninja can't always choose who they must work-"

"Not at all, sir. I was just wondering why," Karasu stated, now pacing the office with a grin. He seemed to have a bit of a bounce to his step, even. "Does it have anything to do with my sharingan? Madara was known to be the only one capable of controlling him with my clan's gift. From what I hear, Itachi may have been able to, but putting him on the team may have the opposite effect; I hear he's part of some group of missing-nin. Definitely shady."

"Does this bother you?" A slight chuckle leaving the Hokage's lips before he could stop it. He had expected a fight over this, not a rebuttal to his reasoning.

"Not one bit, although I can't promise I'll be able to do what you think I will," Kara let out a yawn, still too tired from his journey to hide it. "I'm going to get some rest, if that's alright, sir?"

This brought yet another chuckle out of Sarutobi. "Of course my boy, get some rest."

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The next day found Karasu at training ground three, ready to meet his new squad leader. His leader back in the Hidden Cloud had been a young man by the name of Chuga. He had been quite young for a jonin, only 14, but he had skill to match that of a Cloud ANBU. He had been Kara's best friend, sadly, one that he had to leave without even saying goodbye to.

Karasu brushed his black hair with his fingers and out of his eyes. He had trimmed his red layers in the back last night, and he could now feel the breeze of autumn on the back of his neck. "Ah, Sasuke, you're here!"

"Who are you?" Sasuke dropped from the branches of a tree a few meters to his left. "And how did you notice I was there?" Sasuke, didn't relax at the smile he received, and even tensed at the chuckle.

"Can't fool the Sharingan, I heard you making your way here," Karasu, curious, continued with, "Have you activated your's yet?"

"Activated?" Sasuke was pretty sick of this guy already. _Who does this idiot think he is, calling himself my family? Where's he been?_ "Whatever. Who are you really?"

"I told you yesterday, I'm your cousin," Kara smiled again at him. "I'd like to-"

"Oh, cut the s-"

"Sasuke! Karasu! I'm here!" the blonde ninja came rushing towards them. Nearly falling over himself on the way. "I hope I'm not too late… Am I?"

"No, Naruto, he hasn't shown up yet, so you should be-" The blonde then fell, his foot jammed under a tree root.

"Oh, Naruto, this is going to be a fun team. Now if only our sensei would show up…"

"Looking for me?" the man Karasu fought two days before appeared in front of them, an orange book opened in his left hand. _He reads that Icha-Icha trash?_ "Oh, already taking a nap, Naruto?"

"Uhhhh, no-no sensei!" Naruto quickly pushed himself up, spitting the dirt out of his mouth. "Ewwwwwwww!"

"Naruto, shut up!" Sasuke was already irritated, he just wanted to get this training over with so he didn't have to deal with the boy anymore for the day.

"Now, now, children, we need to begin, try not to fight... yet," Kakashi said with a laugh. "I'm Kakashi, your new sensei. Now, you're not genin yet. I still have to accept you as a team, so you'll be tested today. If you fail, it's back to the academy. Understand?" He let that sink in.

"WHAT? Y-YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

"I'm your sensei, of course I can!" Kakashi said with a smile you could see through his mask. "You have to take," He reached down to his pocket and pulled out 3 bells, "these bells from me. Use whatever means necessary to get them. You'll have to be prepared to kill me if you want to get them. Each one of you needs one to stay on this team," he tied them to his pant loop. "You have until lunch, that's 3 hours-"

"Hiyah!" Naruto jumped at him, a clone appearing behind his target.

"Now, now,"Kakashi grabbed the real Naruto's wrist and kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him flying into Sasuke, who would've been able to dodge, had he not still been staring at Karasu. He then brought that same foot up as he turned to kick his clone into non-existence. "I didn't even say 'Start'." Kakashi laughed again, turning from them. "Begin," he disappeared, at least they all thought so, except for Karasu. He had activated his sharingan in anticipation for a fight, so he had seen Kakashi's movements.

"Here," he took off quick, his teammates struggling to catch up to him. He led them through across the small clearing and into the forest, jumping through the branches of trees to catch the man he could just barely see ahead. _I can't catch him, he's way too fast. I guess I'm left with only one choice._ He reached over his shoulder and drew his ninjatō, the specs of sunlight breaking the leaves overhead glinting off its razor sharp blade. The sunlight caught the _tora_ and the symbol shined brightly as Karasu began to push chakra into the blade, enhancing the golden shine. "Dance of the Firefly!" _Tiger_ , he formed the left-hand half with his only free hand and rose his sword in a forward slash. The fire that left his sword soared towards their target as Kara seemed to melt into it. _Release!_ He materialized out of the flames just behind Kakashi. "I've got you now, sensei," Kara teased as his hand blazed through signs. _Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger._ "Fire-Lightning Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

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I hope you enjoyed! Leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3

" _I've got you now, sensei," Kara teased as his hand blazed through signs. Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger. "Fire-Lightning Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"_

The smirk of victory on the youth's face quickly fell, replaced by total confusion. The jounin was _replicating_ his hand signs. "Fire-Lightning Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" The combatting fires collided, sending sparks and arcs though the trees surrounding them, scorch marks spiderwebbing the bark. Kakashi took advantage of the young ninja's shock and continued into the forest until he came into a larger clearing, one full of beautiful sakura trees swaying in the light breeze, their petals floating to the ground all through the clearing.

"Stop running, Kakashi-sensei," Kara chuckled landing a few meters in front of him and, in a flash, slid his sword back onto his back. "I'd like to finish our battle from a few days ago. I want to know your real power."

"We'll see..." His new teacher dropped into a rather aggressive looking taijutsu stance. "Maybe you'll force me to increase my speed to half." And with that, he lunged at his student, the sudden increase in speed startling him.

 _How is this possible? I was sure he was moving as fast as he could during our first fight._ Kara shook off the shock and prepared to defend. _Push your chakra into your arms and legs._ Kara kicked off of the ground, flipping over Kakashi, and landing on his left leg, bringing his right in a circle into a nasty chakra-enhanced kick at his sensei's unprotected abdomen. At least, he thought it to be unprotected.

"Now, now," Karasu _really_ hated that; his sensei had caught his kick by the ankle. "Did you really think that was going to work out?"

"Well, I had hoped for it to." Kara managed to tear his foot out of Kakashi's grip and formed two quick hand signs. _Tiger, Monkey._ "Fire Release: Burning Windmill!" His technique may not have worked, had it not been for the chakra Karasu had been pushing into his limbs. He rushed forward, dropping his hands and preforming a cartwheel-like motion. He then pushed off of the ground, twisting his body in a helicoptering kick that trailed flames behind it. _Darn,_ his attack had barely missed Kakashi, but he noticed the heat coming from his legs had startled the man. _Needs more chakra, I guess._ He flowed form one movement to another, the momentum of the kick carrying him up slightly, He kicked off of the ground, bring his now clearly flaming knee up towards the older shinobi's face, causing the man to flinch away from the shear heat pouring off of it. He then brought his leg out, finishing the attack with a flaming axe-kick that narrowly missed the shinobi, the result being the impact of the kick cracking the ground in front of him.

"That's enough of this!" Kakashi now had to take the genin somewhat seriously. _What did they teach him in the Cloud? He's way above genin level! No mattre, I'll just have to see how do does when I go on the offensive._ Kakashi dashed forward, pricking his hand on the kunai on his belt, and marked the youth with his blood. He turned a few meters from the boy and pulled out a scroll, opening it and wiping the rest of his blood on it, forming a quick series of hand signs. _Tiger, Snake, Dragon, Dog._ He ended this by slamming the scroll on the ground, "Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Jutsu!" A summoning seal spread on the ground around the scroll before he saw a small fissure open on the ground, lengthening until it reached Karasu.

He had just barely managed to jump from his place when 8 ninken broke through the ground below and began to latch onto him, pulling him back down and holding him in place. Little did Kakashi know that the boy he been fighting had been a shadow clone. The clone dispersed as the ninken sank their teeth into him, and it was almost too late for Kakashi to dodge, as Karasu was in the air, dropping down on him with flaming fists, fists that shattered the ground where Kakashi had stood just moments before.

 _This kid's pretty strong, no more underestimating him._ "Well, done, Kara," the boy he referred to could tell where the voice had come from, strangely. "It seems I'll have to start trying, if I don't want to be hit. _Time to end this. Tiger, Hare, Boar, Dog._ "Earth Release: Multiple Earth-Style Wall!" Walls of stone closed around the youth, trapping him in the enclosure. He pulled down his mask, revealing his sharigan, and tried to trap the youth in a sleeping gentusu, but the boy shook it off quickly, activating his own in response. "You think your sharingan fazes me, Oh Famous Copy-cat Ninja?" Kara began to walk towards him. "If it wasn't for me already having gotten the bells from you, I would show you the power of these eyes in the hands of an Uchiha. I don't know how you got that sharingan, but it isn't yours, so don't flaunt it in front of me again."

Kakashi was in complete disbelief; not only had the boy broken the genjutsu with ease, when he looked down at his belt, the bells were gone, the string that had held them still partly there, but singed. _His attacks! They burned them off?_

"Right here, Kakashi, sensei!" Naruto held up the bells, jingling them slightly. "Ha! Whatta you thinka that, huh?"

"Shut _up_ , Naruto! We didn't do anything, this jerk decided to do everything himself!"

"Sasuke, what's your problem with me? I'm your cousin, you know."

"As if! Just because you wield the sharingan doesn't mean you can call yourself family! Where were you all these years? Hiding away somewhere? The rest of the clan was dead. _Dead!_ I was all that was left, spared by my brother. _You dare to call me family, when I was left alone for all that time?"_

"Sasuke, I didn't know what happened to you until less than a year ago. My family was killed, and now I'm here with you. It's just the two of us now, Sasuke. Well, and Itachi, but we're what's left of this clan, so it's our duty to preserve it. We can't fight like this, not when we're all we have left," Kara pleaded with his cousin, his only remaining family. His eyes reverted from the sharingan they held, now soft and holding back tears.

Sasuke could only nod to this before tears began to flow. He fell to his knees and began to sob. Years of pain, frustration, and hate that had held the boy together so far fell apart as he did in his cousin's arms.

"Once you activate your sharingan, I'll train you and we'll rebuild the clan. We'll kill Itachi together. I've heard how you want to be the one to do it, but you're not alone anymore."

"You'll stand with me?"

"As long as I still have the strength to do so, I'll never let what's precious to me die. That's what it means to be an Uchiha."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Hey haven't updated in a while, but here's chapter 4. I'll be updating more frequently soon, as semester is almost over. Also, I'm rather enjoying writing in the Naruto fandom, and I may be starting another story over my Christmas Break. I hope you enjoy, be sure to leave a review.

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" _Team 7, on me!" Karasu leaped out of the tree line and charged their opponent, ninjatō in hand. "Admit defeat already! You're done!"_

" _I don't think so little boy," said opponent let out what started as a demonic chuckle and turned into a monstrous laugh. An eerie fog started to form around their ankles, quickly overtaking the team's bodies, hiding them from even each other in the mist. "You'll die soon, and then your precious sensei too!" Ox, Snake, Ram. "Water Release: Hiding in Mist!" The man's body soon began to dissipate, his form molding into that of the mist around him. "Silent Killing..." His word barely audible before silence took hold._

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Weeks earlier, Team 7 had found themselves in quite a different predicament.

"YOU CAST A GENJUTSU ON HER CAT?" Hiruzen Sarutobi had received quite the hassle from the council in their emergency meeting. "Why wasn't I informed of this upon your mission report?" He turned to Kakashi. "And you _allowed_ this?" The team in question had completed a D-rank the day before: helping a rather overly-entitled shopkeeper find her cat. Instead of continuing to chase the cat around the outskirts of the village like they had for the first three hours of their mission, Kara took the next opportunity of eye contact with the cat to trap them in a sleeping Genjutsu… Though apparently, it had had some undesired side-effects on the animal.

"Well, I wasn't there when it hap-"

"KAKASHI!" The old man slammed his fists into the table in a show of power that reminded the team that, despite his old age, the Hokage could still break all four of them in pieces. The table gave a load groan as it cracked under Hiruzen's fists. "Why EXACTLY weren't you with your Genin during the mission?" The old kage fixed the silver-haired ninja with a glare that would have Orochimaru looking down at his shoes.

"I, uh, was helping an old lady with her groceries," Kakashi spit out his normal excuse.

"KAKASH-"

"Hokage-sama," Kara knelt in front of his leader. "No blame should be put on our sensei for this, it's my fault," He looked up into Hiruzen's eyes. "But if it helps, I can reverse what happened to the cat. Animals are rather easy to influence, I can, uh, make the cat think it never even happened!"

"DO YOU NOT REALIZE-"

"Come on, old man!" Naruto cut in, causing his team to glare daggers at him. _Kami, he's going to get us killed, thought Karasu._ "All we've done are lowly D-rank missions! We want something more challenging! Otherwise, how am I supposed to become Hokage?!"

"Naruto," Kakashi was giving off quite the murderous intent, he was sure Hiruzen would have them all put down, when the Kage began laughing.

"You want something more challenging, boy?" Hiruzen chuckled softly. _Maybe this'll give these kids a look at what they're begging for._ "Tazuna!" The kage cleared his throat, "Come on in and meet your escorts!"

The team reacted in unison.

"Escorts?" Naruto asked questioningly, unsure of what he meant.

"Escorts?" Sasuke, unimpressed, with his nose turned up at the task.

"Escorts! Ha!" Karasu was rather excited to have the chance to get away from the village.

"Escorts?" Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. _This is going to turn out a mess…_

"Escorts? These _children_?" A man stepped through the now open door and looked over his protectors. "You're kidding, right?"

"Hey! Who you callin-" Naruto's rant was cut short, his face now through the hardwood floor of the office.

"W-What Naruto meant to say is, we are trained ninja, we'll surely be able to take care of you! And if not, Kakashi sensei is one of the Leaf's strongest Jounin," Karasu cut in quickly. _I need to get out of here Naruto, you better not ruin this._ "I can guarantee you, sir, we can see you safely wherever it is you're going."

"You sure? The orange one seems kinda scraw-"

"I assure you, Master Bridge Builder, they will be sufficient protection," Hiruzen was doing his best to live up to his respectable position and not crack up at the exchange, and just barely managing it. He turned to Team 7. "You are to escort Tazuna back to the Land of Waves and protect him while he completes his bridge. Take any and all steps necessary in order to complete the mission. This is your first C-ranked mission, congratulations." He smiled at the team. "Understood?"

"Sir!" The four nodded in unison

"You have until the morning to prepare, meet Tazuna at the western gates at sunrise," Hiruzen nodded to the team before they all shunshined, with the except of Naruto, who tripped on his way out through the window.

* * *

"So," Karasu began, fiddling with the strap that held his ninjatō. "Why're you building this bridge?" The team hadn't been told anything other than that the man was building a bridge and needed protection.

"To open up trade to nearby countries," they were only ten minutes into their travels and, already, he was getting tired of questions from the Genin. "Now, are you done asking questions?" Tazuna had let some irritation seep into his voice. "Shouldn't you be paying attention to what's around us instead of talking? This _is_ your job."

"Geez, old m-" Naruto was, again, cut short by his face being pressed firmly into the ground by Karasu.

" _Naruto_ , he's the client, and a good shinobi knows when to just _listen_ ," Karasu hoped that would get his attention as he released the blonde. "Now, we need to be sure to stay on guard, we aren't in the village anymore."

The team continued along the well-trodden path through the land of fire. "Ugh, why's it so _hot,_ Kakashi sensei?" Naruto whined.

"It hasn't rained in weeks Naruto, now please focus on the task at hand," even Kakashi was starting to get irritated with him. His tone showed this and earned mocking faces from Naruto once their sensei's back was turned.

Naruto's foot splashed through a puddle on the road. "EWWWWW, I'm not even wearing socks!" Naruto shook his foot dry while he continued behind his team.

 _Wait, puddle?_ Kara could feel the intent to kill being given off from the puddle.

"So Karasu, what did you do before you left the Hidden Cl-WHAT-HEY WATCH IT! YOU COULDA KILLED ME!" Naruto looked ready to attack his teammate for the kunai he had sent his way. "WHAT'S THE-"

"GAH!" Karasu's kunai met its mark in the shoulder of a ninja that had just slipped out of the puddle behind the group. "You little piece of-" The Mist ninja, from what Kara had gather based on his and his partner's Hitai-ate, gasped out. "MEIZUUUUUUU, GET HIM!"

"Already on it, Gōzu," a ninja, who could only be Meizu, leaped from the puddle his brother just had and was on a path straight for the ninja who mocked him… Who had suddenly disappeared.

"Looking for something?" Karasu appeared behind the Mist Chunin and gave him a wound equal to that of his brother before disappearing again and returning to his previous place next to his team. "Seriously? I expected more from the Demon Brothers. Want to try again?" Kara relaxed his stance and mocked the pair with a finger gesturing them towards him.

"You'll pay for that, _gaki_ ," Gōzu growled and shot his arm out to his side towards his brother. "Ready Meizu?" With a nod from his partner, he released a shuriken-chain from his gauntlet, which was caught and connect to his brothers before Team 7 could even blink. "Demon Brother Formation!" The two raced forward faster than Karasu could react, and caught the first Genin they reached.

Before Karasu could stop them, they had Naruto caught in their chain, pinning his arms to his sides, the sharp shuriken piercing his tracksuit and skin, and blood soaking the now shredded orange jacket. "Karasu! Sasuke! Kakashi sensei! HELP!" The blonde screamed and tried to move, however, moving caused only more bleeding.

Quicker than the Demon brothers could react, Karasu had drawn his ninjatō, forming a single, one-handed seal in the process. _Tiger_. "Dance of the Firefly!" Kara brought his sword down in a short arc, a flame leaving its blade. The glint of the _tora_ on the sword's blade in the sun disappeared as the Uchiha seemed to catch fire himself as his body melted into his attack. The flame reached Gōzu before he could blink, Karasu leaping out of his flames and once more taking form before he once again sheathed his ninjatō… in his enemies chest, straight through the heart. Karasu wasted no time relishing his victory over one enemy, his sights already set on the other. As soon as his sword met Gōzu, he had begun three final handseals. _Tiger, Monkey, Tiger._ His form visibly flickered from the space he was standing in as he appeared in front of Meizu, his flame-brazen leg melting through the chains as he struck them before using his momentum to turn into Meizu, a kunai in hand, pushing his knife harshly up and through the man's ribcage.

Meizu had not time to reflect on what had happened, his life slipping away to meet his brother in the afterlife in seconds. Karasu, in contrast with the powerful, experienced ninja he appeared to be, promptly vomited on the body. It wasn't often he was forced to take a life, but when he was, it never sat right with him.

"W-what was that?" Naruto was shaking now, the chain of shuriken laying loosely around his after having fallen.

"Naruto," Karasu began, wiping the taste of vomit from his lips. "I have no idea what just happened, but I hope I figure it out."

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I hope you enjoyed, be sure to leave a review. The initial fight with Zabuza isn't far off, so stay tuned for it!


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